


Infighting

by RaeTheStar



Series: Hermitcraft Oneshots [49]
Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: Gen, Oneshot, sad boy hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 06:37:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21070517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeTheStar/pseuds/RaeTheStar
Summary: Running a business isn’t all fun and games, and the Architechs aren’t getting along very well.





	Infighting

“I wasn't the one who threw a jacket potato in the machine now, was I?" Iskall growled.

"Well I wasn't the one who miscounted how many shulker boxes we needed! I hunted for days Iskall, and you didn't even use them!" Grian cried.

"Yeah, well maybe if you learned some basic redstone you could figure how many boxes we needed yourself!"

"Maybe you could learn basic maths!"

"Shut up!"

"No! You're not the boss of me!"

"Well _you're_ not the boss of _me_!" Iskall stalked across the room, forcing Grian to back up.

"Oh yeah, then why am I the CEO?" Grian grinned with a glint in his eye.

"Shut up!" Iskall shoved Grian a little too hard, and the smaller hermit tumbled out the open window with wide eyes. His scream was cut off as a death message popped up, announcing his death. "Oops."

Mumbo stood, his chair scraping loudly. "Iskall, look what you've done! You and Grian have been fighting for weeks now, and it's led to physical violence! Why can't you just get along so we can actually run our business?" Mumbo yelled, tears forming in his eyes.

Iskall backed away slowly, startled by Mumbo's rage. "I- I didn't think-"

"Exactly! You never think! I might as well be running this store by myself! Get out!"

Iskall happily accepted, flying out the window as quickly as he could.

Mumbo sighed, swallowing his tears. Alone in the meeting room. Again. He stood silently for a few minutes before breaking out of his melancholy.

Mumbo glided down into the ordering room; maybe talking to some other hermits could distract him. He waved to Impulse, who was waiting for his order.

"Hey man! You look exhausted, are you good?"

Mumbo shrugged. "It's a little more stressful running a business than I thought it would be..."

Impulse nodded with an understanding smile. "It's the other two boys, huh? I know how that goes. Sometimes you just need to trap them in a room and force them to get along!" Impulse laughed. "Well, good luck man, get some rest!"

Impulse walked out, and Mumbo began to think. At this point he was willing to try anything. His legs carried him back home without his realizing, and he quickly set to work.

Gathering supplies from his base, Mumbo was left to his thoughts, and he couldn't help but think about Iskall and Grian. Their banter had started playful, but it was getting out of hand without them realizing. He hoped it was just stress from other projects catching up to them. He wasn't sure what would happen if two-thirds of the Architechs couldn't stand each other any more.

It was all going to be okay though. Mumbo could fix it, he could fix anything! With this new plan, he knew he could make everyone get along again.

He had to.

—

Mumbo sighed, sitting up in bed. He'd been working on his secret project for over a week, and he hated every second of it. It wasn't like the project was difficult, but every time he worked on it, he thought about Grian and Iskall.

He hadn't seen the two since he kicked Grian out of his base a week ago. He hoped Sahara was running alright without his help.

He dragged himself out of bed, groaning as his joints complained. He pulled on his shirt slowly, then sat on the edge of his bed for a while. He couldn't seem to muster the will to stand up.

His phone buzzed on his bed, and he slowly picked it up.

"Hello?" He winced at his rough morning voice.

"Hello Mumbo, I hope I didn't wake you!" Xisuma's cheery voice came through the receiver. He was always a morning person.

"Nope, I needed to get up anyway. What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you may be able to provide me with some gunpowder! I know you have a farm, and I'm a little nervous to check Sahara," Xisuma laughed, but it was strained.

"What happened to Sahara?" Mumbo perked up.

"Well... Leaving Grian in charge by himself isn't terribly wise. Don't worry, nothing is broken! But, everything is out of stock, and I'm afraid Iskall may attack me from the rafters like a phantom," X laughed.

"Don't worry, it's all under control. I've got this." Mumbo hung up before Xisuma could reply.

His body sagged, but he stood anyway. He needed to finish this, for the good of the server.

Four hours later, Mumbo stumbled back, looking over his work. It looked complete, although his vision faded in and out, so it was hard to tell. Too exhausted to care anymore, he texted Iskall and Grian.

**Mumbo**: comee to mh base

**Grian**: omw!

**Iskall**: u good bro?

By the time Grian showed up, Mumbo was passed out on the ground. "Mumbo! What happened?" Grian lifted Mumbo's head gently into his lap, tugging his mustache.

"Mumbo, where are y- Mumbo?" Iskall dived to the ground, stumbling at the impact. "Oh. Of course it's your fault," He seethed.

"Hey, I found him like this! I got his text just like you." Grian turned back to Mumbo, who's eyebrows were furrowed in his sleep.

"Here, let me take him." Iskall reached out to take Mumbo, but Grian pulled him away.

"I've got him," he muttered. "You can go home now."

"No, we need to take him to Stress, which is right next to my base. I'm going to take him, hand him over," Iskall growled.

"No! He's fine, leave us alone!"

"No! He needs a medic!"

"Well if you've got everything covered maybe I'll just leave!"

"Well maybe I'll leave too!"

Grian stood, Mumbo's head thudding to the floor. He ran off Mumbo's beach, exploding into the sky in an instant. Iskall sprinted the opposite direction, flying into the middle of nowhere.

When Mumbo awoke three hours later, he had a splitting headache and 54 messages on his phone, with more rolling in.

**Cub**: and this is why you shop ConCorp, folks

**Tango**: tea? 👀

**Zedaph**: has anyoen seen any Architechs since Xisuma got attakcedn

**Zedaph**: *attacked?

**Stress**: X got attacked?? And where's Mumbo??

**Xisuma**: Iskall did startle me at Sahara, but it's okay. Mumbo hasn't been seen since Sahara has started falling apart.

**Stress**: but where's Mumbo??

**Stress**: oh sry

**Wels**: Someone needs to check his base.

**Ren**: I'll go, but I need a buddy 😳😭

**Doc**: I'll help, I could protect you any day 👊

**Ren**: thanks babe :DD

**Impulse**: ew, take it to dms 😂

**Stress**: good luck boys! Report back soon!

Mumbo groaned as he laid back down. It didn't help his headache much, but it did help his sore muscles. From what he gathered, Ren and Doc would arrive soon, and they could get him some medicine.

"What's this thing?" Ren's distinct voice reached Mumbo, forcing him to sit up. He waved weakly, but Ren didn't see him. "This redstone is insane!"

"Yeah, I've never seen anything like it," Doc mused. "Should we fire it up?"

"What if it's a trap? I don't wanna get caught up in these Architech shenanigans!"

"Fine, I'll try it."

Mumbo tried desperately to get their attention, but the machine whirred to life, drowning out his weak calls. The machine sputtered, roared, then died suddenly with a puff of smoke.

"Well. Not what I was expecting, honestly." Doc shrugged. "Doesn't look like that's going to run any time soon."

Mumbo flopped back to the floor in tears. His magnum opus. His solution to everything. Broken instantly.

"Mumbo! Doc, he's over here!" Ren knelt gently beside Mumbo, lifting his head into his lap. "Are you okay?"

"Mmmmph..." Mumbo whined painfully.

"He needs medicine, a bed, and some sleep. Cmon."

Ren lifted Mumbo into his arms, and they sailed in a boat to the main island. As the boat rocked, Mumbo drifted in and out of consciousness. The last thing he remembered was his determination.

He could fix this. He _would_ fix this. And he would do it without involving or harming anyone more than he already had.

He had to.

—

"I missed this," Grian sighed happily. "Didn't you Mumbo?"

Grian mumbled to himself, waving the fake Mumbo's arm. "I'm glad you agree! I'm just sorry Iskall is refusing to come to our meetings, he's going to miss out on all our projects."

"Hey, where's Mumbo?" Iskall's cold voice called from the door.

Grian didn't turn around. "He's right here. We're having a meeting if you'll excuse us."

"That's not Mumbo you fool. Have you seen him?"

"...no."

Iskall nodded, though Grian couldn't see it. "Some friend you are." Iskall strapped on his elytra, flying out of the building.

Grian sighed a breath of relief. "Glad we got rid of him, right Mumbo?" Grian glanced at the fake Mumbo, and his grin fell. "Iskall's right. We need the real you back. Sorry, fake Mumby."

Grian kicked over the stack of blocks, flying out the window.

—

Iskall paced across the room. "What is he doing? He hasn't made it to any meetings this week. He says he's 'busy'."

"I tried visiting his base, but he's been avoiding me like the plague..." Grian shifted in his chair, agitated. This was the first composed conversation Grian and Iskall had had in the last 2 weeks.

"We need to just go over to his base together and get him out here. He's a key member of Sahara, and he needs to pull his own weight." Iskall pulled on his elytra, huffing.

"Fine, let's go."

The pair flew over to Mumbo's island in silence, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. They glided in circles a couple times calling his name, but there was no response.

"I think I just saw something move..." Grian dove swiftly, crying in triumph as he found his target. "There you are!"

"Ah Grian, you need to leave. Please." Mumbo shoved him away, refusing to make eye contact.

"What, why? Why haven't you come to any meetings?"

"Sorry, very busy. You need to leave."

Grian frowned, but obeyed, flying away. Iskall caught up with him, curious about what happened.

"Nothing new. He just kicked me out, saying he was busy. I wonder what he's working on."

"Whatever it is, it shouldn't take precedence over Sahara. We're a team!"

"Hey, give him a break. He deserves it after all the redstone he did for Sahara," Grian defended.

"Picking sides are we? Maybe you should go home and play with your parrots if you're not committed to this project." Iskall snapped.

"Why are you yelling at me? Mumbo is the one you should be mad at!"

"Listen, if neither of you are going to step up, then I will. Just go home." Iskall shook his head, diving into the shopping district.

Grian heaved a sigh, rubbing a tear from his eye. He banked around the statue of hermity, flying back to his base.

Two more weeks passed without a word from Mumbo. Xisuma tried countless times to fly to his base, but Mumbo was either nowhere to be found, or kicked X out immediately. From what X had noticed, Mumbo was fraying at the edges, with his eyes dark and dull and his clothes old and stained.

"Iskall, get down here!" Xisuma stormed into Sahara, fuming.

Iskall instantly flew down from the ceiling, landing next to X. He fidgeted with his suit buttons, but froze as Xisuma's glare pierced him.

"I've had enough. You and Grian are going to fly to Mumbo's base and get him out here. The whole server is suffering from this nonsense, and I'm ending it right now."

Iskall nodded vigorously.

"Well? Go get Grian and get out of here!" Xisuma shooed him off. As much as X felt bad for Iskall taking the brunt of his anger, he felt satisfied that at least one of the Architechs got a piece of his mind.

—

Grian and Iskall circled Mumbo's base, both hesitant to land. "Hold on, I see a weird dirt thing over here." Grian drifted to a stop next to a dirt pillar, which had a small book attached.

_To Grian and Iskall,_

_I'm sorry I've been absent at Sahara lately, but I've been taking some time for self care. If you would like to see me, flip the first and second to last levers. Please be sure to leave all your items behind, as I'm worried they may agitate my situation._

_Love, Mumbo_

"Found some switches!" Iskall beckoned Grian over.

"It's not like they were hidden," Grian mumbled.

"Oh yeah wise guy?" Iskall snarled, but Grian ignored him, stuffing his items in a shulker box.

"Put your stuff in a box, Mumbo doesn't want it downstairs."

"Well that's dumb, why did he say that?"

Grian shrugged. "Don't ask me genius, ask Mumbo." Grian flipped the switches. "Nothing happe-"

The floor crumbled beneath them, sending both plummeting to the bottom of the pit. Without their armor on, they were left at half a heart and in significant pain.

"...ow."

"No kidding. An infinity room, man?" Iskall stood stiffly, running a hand across the wall.

"Mumbo's gone bonkers..." Grian stood as well, sighing as he stared into the emptiness.

"He's not the only one..." Iskall muttered.

Grian chose to ignore his comment, instead running his hands across the walls, searching for a hidden exit. Iskall joined in silently, but after only a second Grian called out in surprise.

"It's no exit, but there's a book here! It looks like it got left behind from when he was building the room." Grian skimmed the first few pages, eyes growing larger and larger as he read more. Iskall peeked over his shoulder, and gasped loudly, reading an entry out loud.

_Diary, Grian showed up again. I kicked him out. I just can't look at his face without crying right now. If he and Iskall would just make up everything could be okay. Please, I just want to see them hug and laugh again._

Iskall stopped reading, swallowing thickly. Grian silently shoved the book in his pocket.

"..Hey Gri, how long have we been fighting? Like for real?" Iskall whispered.

Grian shook his head. "I'm so sorry dude. I got caught up in running a business, and I forgot to treat you like the friend that you are..."

"No, I'm sorry. I started it as a joke, but I got caught up in it too."

"Let's help each other do better, okay?" Grian sniffled with a smile.

Iskall smiled at Grian, and the two hugged, albeit slightly awkwardly.

A loud sobbing startled the two, and they glanced around, looking for the source. Mumbo stumbled through the wall, tears pouring down his face as he threw himself into the hug.

"Mumbo? What's wrong?" Iskall carefully patted Mumbos head.

"Thanks guys. I missed you," Mumbo whispered.

"Are you okay?" Grian asked, but realization was already setting into his features.

"You were fighting so much that running the business or talking to you together was impossible. I'm just glad we can all be friends again."

"No, we're sorry Mumbo. We should've realized what we were doing." Grian choked out.

They sat on the floor of the infinity room quietly for a long time before a hushed conversation started up. Before long, things had escalated into wild laughter and shouting, just like normal.


End file.
